TRACK PREPPED: KHALIL’S BATTLE SHIP GRAY SATRIA CYBORG-R

Hatchbacks are simple cars. They are normally targeted to the young, or young at heart due to its smaller size which also results in a lighter ride. Today we have a very much lightened hatchback, coming in the form of a 1995 Proton Satria which is owned by our gear-head friend, Khalil. At first glance, you would assume it’s a track car due to its widened stance, GT wing and a hint of roll cage if you managed to sneak a peek on the stripped interior.

We came across Khalil’s Proton Satria during one of our Sunday morning touge drives that we did together with #SATRIASOCIETY. What caught our attention at first was its color, a very popular Battleship Gray that is gaining popularity due to its rugged and rough-around-the-edges appeal. More and more cars are adopting this color but very few successfully pull it off and actually complete the whole theme of the car. Khalil did it effortlessly, the reason being his car was also ‘themed’ to look like a full-on track oriented, street weapon. Looks aside, as we got closer, we could see that the whole interior was stripped, completely don with a full roll-cage sourced by CUSCO. Now you have our attention.

Khalil bought his Proton Satria 1.6 GLi back in 2008 with the intent of using it as his daily. At the time, the car was bone stock, none of this bumper cut, GT wing or fender flare. He eventually began modding it about 3 years ago when the ‘bikin-bug’ came around and bit him, and began by lowering the ride which resulted in a scraped oil sump. Khalil’s first objective was to improve the engine, although keeping it close to stock, he did quite a remarkable job in nipping and tucking the engine bay while was at it. The engine is a 4G93 motor, with an immaculately done cam cover in a deep reddish tone. Khalil retained only the essentials for the engine bay, stripping all other useless creature comfort stuff like air-conditioning and such, resulting in a clean and classy bay fit for an Autoshow.

Aside from serving as a reliant daily, Khalil wanted to setup the car for a more aggressive driving style, more focused on touge and the occasional trackday. The key aspect of the car for Khalil has always been focused on handling; he always strived to improve on the way he controls the car, utilizing CUSCO Zero-2e coilovers to help dampen the ride while offering enough rigidity to ensure total body control. Other CUSCO items include front and rear strut bars, rear arm brace bar and rear fender brace bar. Khalil even went the extra mile to spot-weld the absorber housing.

Peeping inside we could see that the car was equipped with a pair of Recaro SPG Pole Position full bucket seats, for both driver and passenger (no back seat passengers allowed), complete with Sabelt 6-point harness. Protecting the occupants is a CUSCO Safety21 13-point bolt on roll cage, which completes the whole track car package. Info is fed to the driver via a Haltech Racepak IQ3 digital dash meter, doing away with the conventional method of using a clumsy needle. Despite its stripped interior, proper placement of Carrosse foot and heel plates for both driver and passenger allow the occupants some level of interior ‘comfort’ during high speed driving and cornering.

Exterior mods include a full front and rear conversion to a Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg-R kit with a customized carbon fiber hood locked down using Tonnka pins. To give the car a widened stance, Khalil customized the fenders to add a bit more flare, also introducing a time-attack inspired fender vent behind the front wheel to help promote airflow and cooling for the front brakes. The rear is complemented with a CUSCO GT wing that keeps the lightened rear-end planted during high speed cornering (who says FF configured cars don’t need rear downforce?). The rear bumper is cut purely for functionality purposes; it allows air from below the car to exit the rear at high speeds, whereas a stock bumper would cause a buildup of air increasing drag underneath the car. Another interesting detail of the car are the Craftsquare side mirrors that peep out ever so subtly, allowing the driver to see who he’s currently smokin’. Volk Rays TE37 wheels, donning Bridgestone Potenza RE71R tires are found at all four corners with VTTR 6pot mini calipers bringing the car to a stop, once in a while when braking is required.

Riding in the car is like riding in a racecar, you can experience everything! It offers a stiff and rigid ride, giving the driver (and the passenger) every single feedback of the road and ride. You can hear the roar of the engine when being revved, the air outside rushing in as you’re doing 160 on the highway and rattling of the car under heavy throttle. The perfect amount of rawness we need to remind ourselves that driving what we build is our ultimate satisfaction. Khalil has definitely built a truly amazing car, he turned something purely utilitarian for his daily needs, into a full on track monster for his everyday wants. Looking at the car from all angles offers nothing but pure perfection in our eyes, good job Khalil!

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